UNWomen The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

GENEVA, 25 November 2020—Today, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, UNAIDS is calling for the world to urgently scale up efforts to eliminate the neglected pandemic of violence against women and girls in all their diversity, a widespread human rights violation that affects one in three women at least once in their life.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was estimated that globally 243 million women and girls aged 15–49 years had been subjected to sexual and/or physical violence perpetrated by an intimate partner in the past 12 months. Evidence shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant increases in gender-based violence in nearly all countries.

“The growing evidence confirms that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are not gender-neutral,” said Winnie Byanyima, UNAIDS Executive Director. “The impacts of lockdowns and travel restrictions imposed in many countries to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic,  the failure to designate sexual and reproductive health services and services for survivors of violence as essential services, and the undermining of women’s economic security have  compounded the barriers for women and girls experiencing abuse, especially those who are trapped at home with their abusers.”

Adolescent girls and young women are also increasingly being subjected to early marriage and trafficking, missing out on education because of school closures and lacking access to comprehensive sexuality education and sexual and reproductive health services, including contraception and abortion, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 is increasing violence against women and amplifying existing gender inequalities, further exacerbating HIV risks and vulnerabilities for women, at the same time that access to gender-based violence services, as well as HIV and other sexual and reproductive health services, are being reduced or are unavailable during the pandemic. Violence against women is a major factor driving risks for HIV—in areas with a high HIV burden, such as sub-Saharan Africa, women subjected to intimate partner violence are 50% more likely to be living with HIV. And men who are perpetrators of violence against women tend to be at higher risk of HIV themselves and to use condoms less frequently, thus increasing the risk of HIV transmission.

Violence, or the potential for it, discourages many women and adolescent girls living with HIV from disclosing their HIV status to their partners, families and health-care providers, making it more difficult for women and girls to stay on HIV treatment.

Gender-based violence restricts women’s and girls’ decision-making and erodes their sexual and reproductive health and rights, including deciding if, how, when and with whom they have sex, their ability to protect their health and their ability to access HIV prevention services and stay on treatment.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has reflected once again just how unacceptable it is to continue with half measures and unmet commitments to ending violence against women,” added Ms Byanyima. “If we are serious about achieving gender equality, and ending AIDS, preventing gender-based violence must finally become a global, national and local priority.”

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

GENEVA, 26 August 2020—UNAIDS is calling on countries to adopt urgent measures to reinforce social protection programmes to shield the most vulnerable people from the health impact and socio-economic fall-out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

People living with HIV and tuberculosis (TB) are being significantly impacted by COVID-19. Modelling has estimated the potential catastrophic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic with increases of up to 10%, 20% and 36% projected deaths for HIV, TB and malaria patients, respectively, over the next five years.

Among the most vulnerable are women and girls, gay men and other men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who use drugs and transgender people. Many of them are excluded from existing social protection programmes.

“Countries must ensure that everyone is able to receive essential services including health care and they must invest adequately in social protection programmes to keep people safe and to shield them from the consequences of losing their livelihoods,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS.

The socio-economic fall-out of the COVID-19 pandemic will have the greatest impact on some of the most disadvantaged people in societies around the world. For example, COVID-19 threatens to double the number of people facing acute food insecurity to more than 265 million by the end of the year. Most of these people will be in countries already badly afflicted by conflict, economic or climate crises. Refugees are among the groups facing the greatest dangers.

Hundreds of millions of people around the world are also in line to lose their jobs in the formal and informal sectors of the economy. Around 150 million full time jobs were lost in the first quarter of the year and millions more people are set to lose their livelihoods in the months ahead.

“Today, only 29% of the world’s population has access to adequate social protection coverage,” said Guy Ryder, Director General of the International Labour Organization.” Governments must act to ensure the sustainability of livelihoods, businesses and jobs and the protection of workers’ health, rights and incomes during and after COVID-19.”

Women are particularly vulnerable to the economic crisis being disproportionately employed in the informal sectors of the economy and therefore most likely to lose their incomes. They are also often employed on the frontline of the response to COVID-19, making up 70% of the workforce in the health and social care sectors, as well as carrying out the bulk of unpaid domestic duties in the home, childcare and other caring functions.

An increase in gender-based violence during lockdown also makes it imperative for governments to invest in social protection programmes designed specifically for the protection of women and girls.

A generation of young people are also at risk from the socio-economic crash caused by the pandemic. The vulnerability of children and young people is being further amplified by school closures which have affected more than 90% of the world’s student population, interrupting their education and their access to crucial social services, such as school meals.

“Children and young people are suffering disproportionately from the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis,” said Henrietta H. Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF. “Before the outbreak, two out of three children had no or inadequate social protection fund. Countries need to live up to their commitment for social protection for everyone who needs it.”

The call for action for governments to invest adequately in social protection programmes is endorsed by UNAIDS, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) and supported by the World Food Programme (WFP), the Office of the  United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Bank.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

The United Nations system in Nigeria joined the fight against COVID-19 shortly after the first case was detected in the country in late February 2020.

UNAIDS’ lessons learned and expertise in facilitating, linking and bringing stakeholders together have been instrumental in guiding the United Nations multi-agency response, led by the Resident Coordinator, Edward Kallon. And by proactively mobilizing its political capital and goodwill in the country, UNAIDS has helped to bring resources and better lines of communication, coordination and accountability to the national COVID-19 response.

In mid-March, the Presidential Task Force was established to develop a COVID-19 response plan for how organizations should work together. Appointed as the only development member of the task force, the Representative, a.i., of the World Health Organization (WHO), Fiona Braka, provides the overall United Nations technical leadership to the government. Lessons learned from the HIV response fed into the development of the “four ones” guiding principles for the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic—one national COVID-19 multisectoral pandemic response plan, one COVID-19 national coordinating authority, one COVID-19 monitoring and evaluation system and one COVID-19 financing and investment platform.

“The “four ones” principles will simplify and clarify roles, responsibilities and relationships, including within the government,” said the Minister of Health of Nigeria, Osagie Ehanire.

Another lesson learned from the HIV response was the importance of ensuring that marginalized and vulnerable people are given consideration at every step of the development of a response to a pandemic. The potential impact of COVID-19 on people living with HIV, key populations and the poor also had to be at the centre of decision-making.

“UNAIDS regularly coordinated with the networks since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, providing technical guidance and ensuring synergy with the efforts of the government,” said Abdulkadir Ibrahim, the National Coordinator of the Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria.

Working with the United Nations Development Programme, UNAIDS liaised with the wider United Nations system and the government and facilitated the handover of US$ 2 million worth of emergency medical commodities to the government, ensuring that the supplies and equipment were prioritized for use in public health facilities and by health-care workers.

The One UN COVID-19 Basket Fund was launched on 6 April. Part of one of the “four ones”, the one COVID-19 financing and investment platform, the Basket Fund channels the contributions of donors to the COVID-19 response. UNAIDS played a critical role in its establishment, working with the United Nations Resident Coordinator and the United Nations Development Programme to ensure that the financing platform put people and communities at the centre. UNAIDS, UN Women, WHO and the United Nations Population Fund helped to mobilize US$ 6.5 million for civil society and community engagement, social protection for vulnerable households, community-led surveillance and monitoring of COVID-19 and HIV and the documentation of community best practices.

In announcing a €50 million contribution to the Basket Fund, the Head of the European Union delegation to Nigeria, Ketil Karlsen, said, “The COVID-19 Basket Fund gives us the opportunity to cooperate and act rapidly in the deployment of assistance that can help to enhance health-care services and cushion the most vulnerable.” 

Perhaps the most important contribution by UNAIDS to the COVID-19 response in the country, however, has been advocating to harness the vast HIV infrastructure in the country for the fight against COVID-19.

“We must leverage HIV assets on the ground, including not just laboratory facilities but community health workers and volunteers. To fight COVID-19 effectively we will have no choice but to engage communities to own the response,” said Erasmus Morah, the UNAIDS Country Director for Nigeria.

In a joint effort, the United States Government, the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, the United Nations Children’s Fund, WHO, UNAIDS and the Presidential Task Force mapped and initiated the engagement of approximately 100 000 community health-care workers and volunteers to undertake risk communication, social mobilization, contact tracing and home care.

COVID-19 is far from over in the country, with cases steadily rising, and United Nations staff have not been spared. However, as Mr Kallon, said, “The United Nations must stay open for business and deliver for the people while ensuring that staff members and their dependents are provided with the necessary environment for their protection against COVID-19.” Following this, a COVID-19 isolation and treatment centre as an extension of the United Nations clinic was established for staff as frontline workers, together with their dependent family members. 

Moving forwards with the COVID-19 response, in addition to the continued support for the Presidential Task Force, the United Nations Country Team, including UNAIDS, is gearing up to support Nigeria to address the major gaps in subnational preparedness. Key issues such as the loss of livelihoods, heightened vulnerabilities and food insecurity, the increased risk of gender-based violence and limited access to essential health services will also be addressed in the coming months.

UN Women estimates that globally in the past 12 months 243 million women and girls aged 15–49 years were subjected to sexual and/or physical violence perpetrated by an intimate partner. As a result of the lockdowns imposed to stop the spread of COVID-19, emerging data show that such violence has intensified. In France, for example, reports of domestic violence have increased by 30% since the lockdown started on 17 March, and in Argentina emergency calls about domestic violence have increased by 25% since its lockdown started on 20 March. Many other countries have reported such increases.

Recently, the Odnoklassniki social network, known as OK, hosted a broadcast for experts and others to discuss how to survive lockdown and avoid family conflict and gender-based violence. The broadcast was seen by 1.7 million OK network users across eastern Europe and central Asia.

“I live in Kyrgyzstan,” Ulzisuren Jamstran, a representative of UN Women in Kyrgyzstan, said. “Here, according to the government, the level of domestic violence increased by 65%. We see an increase in aggression against women and children in Kyrgyzstan, we see an increase in suicides among children, even young children.”

Lyudmila Petranovskaya, a Russian psychologist, explained how isolation made good relationships become better and problematic relationships become more problematic. She emphasized that people need to be aware of the options if they are locked down with an abuser. “People have to look for contacts, a hotline, call friends, try to find another place to survive isolation. Staying with the abuser is dangerous. This threat is more serious than coronavirus,” she said.

Julia Godunova, Deputy Head of the Board of the Eurasian Women’s Network on AIDS, spoke about studies in eastern Europe and central Asia that show that more than 70% of women who survived violence do not seek help because of the perceived shame.

Dina Smailova, the founder of the #DontBeSilentKZ nongovernmental organization, addressed female survivors of violence. “When we are silent, we allow these crimes to multiply. I urge women not to be silent. Our movement is expanding, we are active not only in Kazakhstan, but also in other countries of central Asia and beyond.”

The broadcast highlighted successful experiences around the world in responding to gender-based violence. The example in Spain, where women in danger can visit pharmacies and use a code word to alert staff that they need help, was praised. The role of the private sector was also shown to be important—since many shelters are not open at present, hotels are stepping in and providing shelter, either for free or at a minimal cost.

The broadcast was part of a joint initiative of the UNAIDS regional office for eastern Europe and central Asia, the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education and OK, in partnership with the regional office of UN Women for eastern Europe and central Asia.

The Pacific region has among the world’s highest rates of gender-based violence. National research show that 72% of Fijian women experience gender-based violence, compared to the global average of 35%. Women in the region also have a low representation in leadership positions—out of the 560 Pacific members of parliament, 48 are women, of whom 10 are Fijian women.

Adding to these sociocultural impacts is the climate emergency. In response, Pacific women are demanding more involvement in climate-related decision-making and to be fully engaged in climate responses.

Komal Narayan, a Fijian climate justice activist, became fascinated during her postgraduate programme in development studies about how climate change overlapped with ethics and politics. “The effects of climate change are felt most acutely by the people who are least responsible for causing the problem,” she said. This motivated her to be more active and vocal about the issue, leading to her participation, together with other young delegates from Fiji, in the twenty-third United Nations Climate Change Conference, held in Bonn, Germany, in 2017.

“My goal in life is to be part of a society that is focused on addressing the issues of climate justice and encouraging and motivating more young people to be more involved in this space, as I believe that this issue is not just yours or mine but an issue that is at heart for the entire Pacific,” Ms Narayan said.

Ms Narayan was also one of the Green Ticket Recipients for the United Nations Youth Climate Action Summit in September 2019, where she was involved in a youth-led dialogue with the United Nations Secretary-General.

“As givers of life, as dedicated mothers, thoughtful sisters, domestic influencers and active contributors to socioeconomic development, we women have the power to give impetus to the global climate movement,” Ms Narayan said. “It’s about time that women and girls are given equal opportunities and equal access to resources and technology to be able to address climate justice. Countries, specifically government and civil society, should be playing a key role in this.” 

AnnMary Raduva, a year 11 student at Saint Joseph’s Secondary School in Suva, Fiji, believes that climate justice must recognize the connection between humans and the environment and how vulnerable we are if we don’t do something today.

“In the Pacific region, our indigenous communities depend intimately on the ecological richness for subsistence, as well as economically, and this dependence makes our people sensitive to the effects of extreme weather events, and we cannot ignore them. We have a close relationship with our surroundings and are deeply spiritual and culturally connected to the environment, and ocean, and this relationship has positioned us to anticipate, prepare for and respond to the impacts of climate change,” Ms Raduva said.

In 2018 she wrote to the Fijian Prime Minister asking him to relook at the Fiji Litter Act 2008 to classify balloon releasing as littering in Fiji. Ms Raduva soon realized that talking about balloon releasing was not enough, however, and that she had to find eco-friendly alternatives to amplify her message. The idea of planting mangroves along the Suva foreshore soon came to her.

Since 2018, she has initiated six planting activities and has planted more than 18 000 mangrove seedlings. She was invited to New York, United States of America, in September 2019 to march for climate justice at a United for Climate Justice event organized by the Foundation for European Progressive Studies. She stood in solidarity with the indigenous communities that are on the forefront of climate change as it advances in the Pacific region.

Ms Raduva has faced discrimination as a young female activist and has been mocked as a “young, naive girl”. She was told that she must not talk about climate change because activism is reserved for boys and adults. However, she believes that ensuring the participation of women, children and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people and other minority groups in climate change talks is a priority for any institution or organization that aims to champion climate change issues.

Varanisese Maisamoa is a survivor of Cyclone Winston, which in 2016 was one of Fiji’s most powerful natural disasters. In 2017, she formed the Rakiraki Market Vendors Association, working with UN Women’s Markets for Change project—“We want to empower our market vendors to be climate-resilient,” she said. Through UN Women’s leadership training, she learned to be confident when speaking out about the issues affecting market vendors and to negotiate with the market council management.

Ms Maisamoa represented her association on the design of the reconstruction of Rakiraki’s market, which now features infrastructure resilient to a category 5 cyclone, a rainwater harvesting system, flood-resistant drainage and a gender-responsive design.

Ms Narayan, Ms Raduva and Ms Maisamoa are among the Pacific women who are pushing for more of a voice in and inclusiveness for women and girls in climate action. Their activism is working to reduce discrimination against women and girls, which results in inequalities that make them more likely to be exposed to disaster-induced risks and losses to their livelihood, and to build resilience for women to adapt to changes in the climate.

Ms Maisamoa’s story has been republished with permission from UN Women’s Markets for Change project, which is a multicountry initiative towards safe, inclusive and non-discriminatory marketplaces in rural and urban areas of Fiji, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu that promotes gender equality and women’s economic empowerment. Implemented by UN Women, Markets for Change is principally funded by the Government of Australia, and since 2018 the project partnership has expanded to include funding support from the Government of Canada. The United Nations Development Programme is a project partner.

One of the 11 UNAIDS Cosponsors, UN Women is working closely with UNAIDS to improve the lives of women and girls worldwide. In Malawi, for example, UNAIDS and UN Women have partnered to reduce the impact of gender-based violence and mitigate the risk of HIV infection among women and girls.

“UN Women is the youngest of the UNAIDS Cosponsors, and we are delighted to work closely with UNAIDS and other partners under the UNAIDS Unified Budget, Results and Accountability Framework 2016–2021,” says Clara M.W. Anyangwe, the representative of UN Women in Malawi. The Unified Budget, Results and Accountability Framework (UBRAF) is a UNAIDS instrument that maximizes the coherence, coordination and impact of the United Nations response to HIV by combining the efforts of the UNAIDS Cosponsors and UNAIDS Secretariat. Its principal aim is to allocate financial resources to catalyse country-level action in the AIDS response.

With UBRAF funding, UN Women in Malawi has teamed up with an impressive number of partners, including UNAIDS, the Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, the National AIDS Commission, the National Law Commission, the United Nations Development Programme, the Malawi Network of AIDS Service Organizations and civil society to implement a project that aims to enhance the national response to sexual and gender-based violence, harmful practices, sexual and reproductive health and rights and HIV.

“Working together as UNAIDS Cosponsors is just a better approach,” says Ms Anyangwe. “There is no single agency that can help the country to achieve the UNAIDS 90–90–90 targets. Instead, each agency has a comparative advantage that they bring to the table. In this case, UN Women brings in the gender dimension and UNAIDS its expertise in the HIV response.”

Malawi has made great progress in reducing new HIV infections. In 2017, there were 39 000 new HIV infections, a 40% reduction since 2010, but 9500 of those were among adolescent girls and young women between the ages of 15 and 24 years. That is more than double the number among men of the same age group.

The project has produced a perception study on the prevailing gender norms that increase violence against women and girls and their risk of HIV infection in Malawi, such as rite of passage practices, sexual cleansing, child marriage, marriage by proxy and transactional sex. An indicator framework has been developed from the findings that will be used to track progress of Malawi’s National Strategic Plan for HIV and AIDS.

An important part of the project is to engage with traditional leaders, including those who facilitate rite of passage practices, and mother and father groups. As a result of the engagements, a framework has been developed that links partners in the local HIV, sexual and reproductive health and rights and sexual and gender-based violence response to monitor and address harmful cultural practices that occur during local rites of passage ceremonies.

A series of intergenerational dialogues that brought together young people, people living with HIV and traditional and faith-based leaders revealed that issues such as lack of access to youth-friendly HIV and sexual and reproductive health and rights services, peer pressure, stigma and discrimination and gender-based violence need to be addressed in order to increase young people’s resilience and empower them to protect themselves against HIV infection.

“We also leveraged UN Women’s global He for She campaign to engage men and boys as partners of women and girls. We were looking particularly to foster a positive masculinity. How can we use masculinity to protect women and girls against harmful practices?” said Ms Anyangwe.

During the dialogues, more than 100 men and boys took the pledge to be He for She champions to promote gender equality and reduce HIV and sexual and gender-based violence. The human rights approach embedded in the project has seen laws and policies that relate to HIV and gender translated into local languages and widely disseminated in affected communities.  

Ms Anyangwe insists that leveraging the specific expertise of partners under the UBRAF umbrella is reaping rewards in Malawi.

“It has also been great to have UNAIDS as a member of the Country Coordinating Mechanism of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. UNAIDS’ involvement in these mechanisms benefits us all,” she says.

“We really value UN Women’s continued support and partnership in ending HIV and gender-based violence in Malawi,” says Thérèse Poirier, UNAIDS Country Director for Malawi. “It has been beneficial to work as One UN so we don’t confuse our national counterparts by coming in and working separately on different areas of these interconnected and multilayered epidemics,” she said.

BERLIN, GERMANY, 16 October 2018—Eleven heads of the world’s leading health and development organizations today signed a landmark commitment to find new ways of working together to accelerate progress towards achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Coordinated by the World Health Organization, the initiative unites the work of 11 organizations, with others set to join in the next phase.

The commitment follows a request from Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana, and Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway, with support from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, to develop a global plan of action to define how global actors can better collaborate to accelerate progress towards the health-related targets of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

“Healthy people are essential for sustainable development – to ending poverty, promoting peaceful and inclusive societies and protecting the environment. However, despite great strides made against many of the leading causes of death and disease, we must redouble our efforts or we will not reach several of the health-related targets,” the organizations announced today at the World Health Summit in Berlin. “The Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-being for All represents an historic commitment to new ways of working together to accelerate progress towards meeting the 2030 goals. We are committed to redefine how our organizations work together to deliver more effective and efficient support to countries and to achieve better health and well-being for all people.”

The group has agreed to develop new ways of working together to maximize resources and measure progress in a more transparent and engaging way. The first phase of the plan’s development is organized under three strategic approaches: align, accelerate and account.

• Align: The organizations have committed to coordinate programmatic, financing and operational processes to increase collective efficiency and impact on a number of shared priorities such as gender equality and reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health.
• Accelerate: They have agreed to develop common approaches and coordinate action in areas of work that have the potential to increase the pace of progress in global health. The initial set of seven “accelerators” include community and civil society engagement, research and development, data and sustainable financing.
• Account: To improve transparency and accountability to countries and development partners, the health organizations are breaking new ground by setting common milestones for nearly 50 health-related targets across 14 Sustainable Development Goals. These milestones will provide a critical checkpoint and common reference to determine where the world stands in 2023 and whether it is on track to reach the 2030 goals.

The Global Action Plan will also enhance collective action and leverage funds to address gender inequalities that act as barriers to accessing health, and to improve comprehensive quality health care for women and girls, including sexual and reproductive health services. 

The organizations that have already signed up to the Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-being for All are: Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Global Financing Facility, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, Unitaid, UN Women, the World Bank and WHO. The World Food Programme has committed to join the plan in the coming months.

The final plan will be delivered in September 2019 at the United Nations General Assembly.

For more information, www.who.int/sdg/global-action-plan

Media enquiries

• Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance: Frédérique Tissandier; +41 79 300 8253; ftissandier@gavi.org
• Global Financing Facility: Melanie Mayhew; +1 202-459-7115; mmayhew1@worldbankgroup.org
• Global Fund: Ibon Villelabeitia; +41 79 292 5426; ibon.Villelabeitia@theglobalfund.org
• UNAIDS: Sophie Barton-Knott; +41 79 514 6896; bartonknotts@unaids.org
• UNDP: Adam Cathro; +19179159725; adam.cathro@undp.org
• UNFPA: Omar Gharzeddine; +1 212 297 5028; gharzeddine@unfpa.org
• UNICEF: Sabrina Sidhu; +1 917 476 1537; ssidhu@unicef.org
• Unitaid: Andrew Hurst, +41795616807; hursta@unitaid.who.int
• UN Women: Maria Sanchez Aponte; +16467814507; maria.sanchez@unwomen.org
• World Bank Group: Maya Brahmam; +1 202 361 2594; mbrahmam@worldbankgroup.org
• WHO: Christian Lindmeier; +4179 500 6552; lindmeierch@who.int